https://www.aa.com/i18n/plan-travel/...day-travel.jsp

I'm going to take a little poll here. Let's say I want to take an 11:00 AM flight from JFK to LAX. What is the better deal (taking flight experience into account)

AAnytime Redemption in economy at 20,000 miles. $6 out of pocket cost, plus 20,000 miles.

Coach seat at $407, plus mileage upgrade ($75 plus 15,000 miles). $482 out of pocket cost, plus 15,000 miles. Based on the current J load, it is likely I get the upgrade

I save about $500 by just flying AAnytime, but I forgo the J experience and 2,500 EQM (which will actually be very useful for helping me hit platinum this year).

EDIT - After crunching the numbers, given I will likely need a mileage run at the end of the year without these 2,500 EQM, I think I may as well book the revenue flight.

how far out is your trip and how would you feel if you paid for the ticket but didn't get the upgrade? Unless the trip is in the next day or two, loads can be somewhat unreliable predictor as there can be a lot of last minute bookings on this route. I've also seen them open up Z in the last day or so if the first class cabin is wide open. Good news for you is the mileage upgrades now get prioritized over stickers but I imagine there is a good amount of mileage and SWUs being used on these flights.

The trip is in a week.

A $400 ticket for economy one way to LAX isn't terrible, but Delta is selling a similar ticket for $260 right now for next week.

I edited my post - currently I have booked and planned flights that would put me at about 48,000 EQM in December. Booking this flight on a revenue basis would put me over, so I'm inclined to take it instead of finding a random mileage run in December.

Two F transcon flights coming up in November PDX-CLT red-eye in an ancient LUS 321 and MIA-LAX in an 321 32B 2 class...I know AA hates PDX but only a 2 class on MIA-LAX?

I'm an AS MVPG, soon to be 75k, looking at switching to AA as primary but being PDX based I just don't see the right planes.

What exactly do you expect out of PDX? In my experience, AA is flying 737s and A321s which seems reasonable (and no worse than what AS offered ex-PDX/SEA).

-FlyerBeek

At least AS has power at every seat...is AA ever going to update the old US 321s?

Do not do this.

I know but being PDX based the fallout of the AA/AS split hits me hard. My only other option is DL. I'll maintain at least MVP on AS but need need partner for 4 South America flights a year, plus Japan. I'll easily make Plat on DL or Plat Pro on AA. So far this year I have 50k on AA (credited to AS) and 20k on AS.

Yeah, it seems silly they're using all their 3-class planes on less worthy routes when all the competition offers 3-class.

I'm flying an award ticket in economy on this plane around lunch time - I now get a free meal, right? Likely some kind of wrap? I haven't flown economy on this route in a couple of years, any other changes?

Flew economy recently - I was given the below meal for free, plus a snack about an hour and a half before landing. This was adequate for a lunchtime flight

Attachment 38239

It was interesting as the FAs made no attempt to sell beer, wine, other snacks, etc. I remember being offered these options last time I flew economy on this flight. The FAs emphasized that everything was complementary and didn't really offer anything else.

The only 3-class MIA-LAX flight is the one operated by 777-300ER and only one per day. Not surprising since there aren't any 777-200s left with an F cabin.

Is there any preferred MCE seat for a lunchtime LAX-JFK departure?
There are no windows as such to look out of in the exit / bulkhead so either I get a view for a little bit of daylight or lose the legroom (5ft7 so no major loss although it's nice and don't like underseat boxes taking my foot space).

At present I've a redemption flight from SFO-JFK booked in MCE (exit row) overnight. Holding out ideally for something in business either day or night.
Seems to be £116 / $140? for LAX-JFK in economy during the day so that seems to be a better daytime option as a flat bed would be wasted.

Not sure if I'm in San Francisco or L.A. so either suits me. Just want to be comfortable.

Flying the A321T "Sharklets" from JFK to DCA today...
 

Sitting in 9D now. The reactions this plane gets from customers is always funny to me. Customers are "shocked" by the seats they are in, amazed at the plane, etc. This is an impressive plane, I hope AA keeps this configuration for a long time